Cutter attachment for balers



Oct. 26, 19370 CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR BALEHS Filed April 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 L. R. TALLMAN -r AL CUTTER ATTACHMENT FOR BALERS Filed April 25, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 ML Wm E2- 7 W W IH'SZ'ENTDEE.

Patented Oct. 26,

UNITED STATES CUTTER ATTACHIHENT FOR BALEBS Leslie R. Tallman and Gentry L. Tillman,

' Shelbyville, Ill.

Application April 25, 1935, Serial N0. 18,194

4Claims.

Another object is to provide a cutter mecha-- nism as aforesaid which is automatically oper- 10 ated co-operatively with certain operative movements of the feeding devices.

A further object is to provide a pick-up device for gathering hay from the ground, and a conveyor to transport the same to a cross feed con- 16 veyor whereby it is transported and fed into an associated baler, means for driving the cross feed conveyor in such a manner as to transport the hay toward or away from the baler and a cutting device co-operative with the cross feed conveyor 20 capable of severing the stream of hay when the cross feed conveyor is operated to transport the hay away from the baler.

An additional object is to provide a combined pick-up and baler mechanism which includes 25 means for gathering hay from the ground and transporting the same to the baler in a substantially continuous stream, means for interrupting the movement of the stream and co-operative means for severing the stream for the purpose of to facilitating operation in the baling process.

A further object is to provide a combined pickup and baler mechanism as aforesaid having a cutter element adapted to facilitate handling of the hay stream being fed into the baler, the com- 35 bined baler, pick-up mechanism and cutter elements being supported for transport over a field by means of a single shaft supported on a pair of wheels.

Other objects will appear in the following de- 40 scription and accompanying drawings in which;

Fig. 1 is a partially fragmented plan view of a pick-up baler mechanism in which my invention is embodied v Fig. 2 is a side elevational view of the same as 45 it would appear from below in Fig. l;

Fig. 3 is a fragmented side elevational view showing details 'of mechanism to be described, the view being taken from line 3-3 in Fig. 1;

, Fig. 4 is an end elevational view showing details 50 of mechanism to be described, the same being taken from line 4-4 in Fig. 3; A

Fig. 5 is a detail sectional view taken from line 5-5 in Fig. 4; 1

Fig. 6 is a sectional detail view taken on line 56 8-4 in Fig. 5;

Fig. '1 is a fragmentary sectional detail view taken on line 1-1 in P18. 4; and

' Fig. 8 is a fragmental sectional detail view taken on line 0-4 in Fig. 4.

Figs. 1 and 2 disclose the device to be described a as consisting of an inclined conveyor mechanism III, which includes pick-up devices I I, a cross feed conveyor mechanism l2 adapted to receive hay from mechanism l0 to transport the same to an associated baler mechanism It. The cross feed 10 conveyor mechanism includes accessory mechanism ll for assisting the cross feed devices in ejecting hay into the baler and a cutting device for severing the ejected hay stream.

It is to be noted that the word hay is herein It used as a convenient term to designate all fibrous plants capable of being harvested and baled and not in the limited sense as applied to the particular plant commonly known as bay.

The combination includes driving elements for the several mechanisms involved and a control mechanism i5 whereby the several elements are selectively driven and controlled as will be described, and the combined apparatus is supported for transport over a field on a unitary axle I6 mounted on suitable'wheels ll, only one of which is herein shown.

Conveyor Ill comprises a unitary supporting frame structure it which carries rotatable upper and lower shafts l8 and ill, carrying plural sprockets 2i and 22, which in turn carry conveyor chains 23, which are provided with upstanding spike portions 23'. The upper lengths of chains 23 rest upon a platform board 24 which is supported in frame l8. v

' The lower shaft 2| carries, in addition to sprocketsfl, a series of tine members H which, when rotated; act to pick up hay from the ground as the apparatus is moved through the field and deliver the gathered hay to the conveyor. 40

The conveyor structure is supported at its upper end by means of pivotal attachment at 25 with the frame structure of conveyor i2 and its lower end is principally supported by means of an arm 28 extending from axle l6 and connected 5 with the supporting frame structure by a short link 21. Another arm, 28, is attached to the hub structure carrying arm 28 and to the free end of this is attached a spring 29, the opposite end of which is anchored, as by means of a rod 30 in the frame structure of conveyor if.

It will be apparent that the spring 20 is adapted to exert a pulling force upon arm 28 whereby the outboard weight of conveyor II is more or less counterbalanced.

ll designates ground wheels which are mounted upon the frame structure it and so disposed with respect to the pick-up elements as to space them properly with respect to the ground, thus enabling the pick-up to operate in close proximity to the ground without actual engagement therewith.

As above noted, the spring II is effective to support the outboard weight of the structure, and in practice the strength of the spring is made such that the ground wheels 8i carry only a small portion of the weight, only enough in fact to insure firm contact of the ground wheels with the surface of the field, whereby the contour of the ground is followed with fidelity and the pickup mechanism is at all times in proper position with respect to the surface over which it is traveling.

The cross feed conveyor mechanism comprises a frame structure which includes a bottom member 32 and side members 88 and Il. Secured between the latter is a floor board structure I.

The frame structure is supported at its inner end upon the baler frame structure and at its outer end by means of a brace member 88 which is carried by the shaft it as shown in Pig. 2.

In opposite ends ofthe frame structure are rotatable shafts 81 and It which carry plural sprockets I! and ll. The sprockets carry chains II, the upper lengths of which are supported by and slide upon the fioor board II. The chains are provided with spike or tooth portions 42 whereby the hay falling thereon is efficiently transported in the direction of travel of the chain The cross feed mechanism also includes a forking device adapted to assist the chains 4! in di- Members 43 have rearwardly arms I which are pivotally attached to a second bar member 41. It will be apparu'it that bar 41 is supported upon extensions 40 which are in turn supported upon bar II. and the mechanism is so proportioned and arranged that bar I! may be moved longitudinally to swing upon arms 4| whereby the pointed members ll are caused to rock unitarily upon pivots u.

The bar N is slidably mounted on the fram structure a. Figs. 1, 2, and3 illustrate a pitman 48 which is pivotally connected at II to the bar 01 and to an offset stud ll carried by a disk ll. rotatably mounted in the frame structure. By means of rotation of the disk ll reciprocal movementisimpartedtothebarlLandthe initial movement ageach end of its stroke causes rocking movement of members 0. The arrangement and proportions of extensions I are such that the longitudinal movement of bar 41 with respect -tobar45islimited,anddm1ngafullstrokeof pitman 4| the reversing movement at each end first rocks members 43 to position them open as shown in solid lines, or on the opposite end. to position them closed as indicated in dotted lines. During the. intermediate portion of the stroke, thebar llisobvlously carrledalongwithbar 41 to propel members 48 forwardly or backw'ardly wlthrespecttothebaler.theforwardstrokebeingmade withmembe'rs inopenposition and Thediskissecuredtoashaft nwmcna the backward stroke with the members closed. By the movement described the members are obviously made effective to fork the hay toward the baler. Means for driving the mechanism will be noted later.

As shown best in Figs. 2 and 3, the cross feed conveyor mechanism includes a baiile structure II which includes movable tine members 54. This mechanism is not a necessary part of the present invention. It is fully disclosed in a copending application, Serial Number 752,194, filed November 9,1934 now matured into Patent No. 2,038,809, dated April 28, 1936, and will not be described herein further than to say that it is adapted to assist the chain mechanism in ejecting hay into the baler.

At the inner end of the cross feed conveyor there is disposed a cutter mechanism which will be described shortly.

The baler mechanism, herein shown in fragmental manner, comprises the conventional side frame members I and l which are supported upon shaft It. It is to be noted that shaft It carries the entire apparatus herein described, including the baler and accessorial pick-up and conveyor devices.

Mechanism of conventional baler apparatus are thought sufilciently well known as to obviate detail description herein further than to note that the plunger head, not shown. is operated through a pltman l which is eccentricsily connected between a pair of gears it as shown.

Gears II are driven by pinions I! which in turn may be driven by a power take-off mechanism, designated OI, operated from an associated tractor or from an independent power plant carried upon the baler frame. The baler frame carries a side board structure It disposed adJacent the inner end of the cross feed conveyor and over the baler in such position as to facilitate passage of hay from the conveyor to the baler.

lleshed with one of gears II is a pinion II, and this pinion has driving connection with a gear and clutching mechanism included in the control mechanism ll, to drive the several elements of the apparatus as will be described.

The cutter device above noted comprises a guillotine knife I! mounted for vertical move- .ment in guide members 03 which are supported upon the baler frame or the inner end of the cross feed conveyor frame structure.

Knife 02 has extending end portions N which have apertures adapted to receive vertical rods OI upon which are confined coil springs I. The sprlngs'are of such strength as to be capable of forcing the knife I! into the elevated position in which it is shown in Pig. 4. The knife is provided with an upright rack member I which .is siidably supported by a bracket fixture ll attached to one of the members 63.

Meshing with rack 01 is a gear segment ll rockably mounted at It upon a bracket fixture ll attached to one of members ll.

Segment has a rearwardly directed arm I! to which is connected a bar ll having its opposite end connected upon a stud l4 eccentricaiiy disposed upona disk member II. The disk is rotatably confined on a shaft II. which aisor'oarrles a sprocket It.

Shaft It is iournalled in bearing brackets I! supported upon the frame structure and carries a ratchet II, Fig. 6, which lies adjacent the disk II, as shown in Pig. 6.

Dlsk'llcarriesapawill,tensionedbya spring 80 toward engagement with the teeth of ratchet l8. 1

Mounted between the lower ends of guides 63 is a horizontally disposed knife 8| positioned to oo-operate with knife 62 in forming a shearing mechanism when the latter knife is lowered to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 4 and diagrammatically in Fig. 7'. 'The cutting edge of knife 62 lies upon a diagonal line whereby the shearing action is facilitated.

It willbe apparent that through the ratchet mechanism described'the shaft, rotating in one direction will have its movement imparted to disk. 15 through the pawl 19 whereby the segment 69 will be operated to cause reciprocal movement of knife 62, whereas when the shaft is rotated in opposite direction there will be no driving connection through the pawl 19 and knife 62 will not be moved. The action of springs 66 to normally hold the knife in elevated position has already been noted and it will thus be apparent that when shaft I6 is rotated in one direction the knife is operated, and when rotated in opposite direction the knife is stationarily held in elevated position.

The function of pinion 6| has already been noted.

The pinion is mounted upon a shaft which extends into the housing of mechanism I 5 and within the housing is a clutch and change gear mechanism to be driven by the pinion.

Mechanism of the type usedare thought sufflciently well known to require but brief description. Dotted lines in Fig. 1 indicate four mitre gears ll, 82, 88, and 88.

Gear 8| is driven by pinion 6|, gears 82 and 88 mesh with gear 8| and are to be driven thereby, and gear 84 is driven by gears 82 and 83.

Gear 82 is connected to the shaft line 16 through a breakable connection 86, and gear 84 is arranged to drive a sprocket 85 which has driving connection with a sprocket 81 through a chain 88. Sprocket 81 is secured to shaft 20.

A chain 89, driven by sprocket 16' secured to shaft 16, is arranged to engage a sprocket 96 which is secured to shaft 81 of the cross feed conveyor and an upper sprocket 9| affixed to shaft 62.

The control mechanism described also includes clutching devices which are considered conventional and are not shown, and the clutching devices are made manually operable from a remote station on the opposite side of the baler, through connection of a bar 92 and a shaft 88 with a hand lever 84.

' By means of the hand lever the clutching devices may be operated to establish driving connection between shaft I6 and a selected one of gears 82 or 88 whereby to optionally rotate shaft 16 in either direction.

It will now become apparent that the apparatus above described may be drawn over a field with the baler mechanism in operation whereby the pick-up members II are operated to lift hay from the ground and place it upon conveyor I0 whereby it is elevated and discharged into conveyor l2. The chains ll, with the assistance of members 48, divert and transport the hay stream into the baler, ejection of the stream being assisted by tines 64 which are operated by shaft 52.

The rotative direction of shaft 16 is arranged to be such that the forward or feeding movement of the hay stream is brought about by rotation which is ineffective to operate the knife 62.

During usual baling operations it becomes necessary at certain times to insert blocks in the baler for the purpose of separating the bales. At such times it is necessary to break the stream of material being fed into the baler and to separate that portion of the material in the stream moving toward the baler from that already in the baler. It is obviously desirable that the separation be made quickly and sharply.

To provide for such separation we arrange the cross feed conveyor so that its direction of travel may be reversed whereby the stream is caused to move away from the baler and when this reverse movement is established the stream entering the baler is obviously interrupted.

However, due to the fibrous nature of some grain stalks, complete separation of the stream is often difficult of accomplishment. The stalks become interwoven in such a manner that the stream may become comparable with a loosely made rope and the combined strength of the fibres may be such that no ordinary pulling effort is sumcient to break the stream.

To insure perfect separation of the stream, we provide the cutter mechanism described.

It has already been noted that shaft 16, when rotated in one direction, drives the cross-feed conveyor in forward direction, and this rotation of the shaft corresponds to the inactive disposition of knife 62.

When the shaft is rotated in the opposite direction to reverse the direction of travel of the stream as above noted the knife is automatically placed in operation, whereby the stream while being separated is sharply severed and thus undesired and troublesome pulling is obviated.

Upon re-establishment of usual rotation of shaft 76, knife 62 is automatically rendered inactive and elevated as described by springs 66.

The foregoing will make clear that we have provided a device which is capable of rendering great assistance in the work of continuously; gathering and baling hay in the field.

Modifications of structure are obviously possible without alteration of the principle involved. We do not wish to be limited in structure or principle, except within the scope of the appended claims.

What we claim is: V

1. A device of the class described having in combination a conveyor adapted to transport hay into an associated baler, mechanism for operating said conveyor in reverse directions whereby the hay may be transported toward or away from the baler and a shears cutter operable by said mechanism to cut the hay, said latter mechanism being operable only when the hay is being transported away from the baler.

2. A device of the class described having in combination a pick-up conveyor, a cross feed conveyor and a baler, said conveyors being adapted to transport hay from the ground to the baler in a substantially continuous stream, the cross feed conveyor adapted to .propel said stream toward the baler to discharge the hay thereinto or away from the baler, and a reciprocal shears cutter operable to sever the stream at the moment of reversal of the direction of travel of the stream.

3. A device of the class described, including in combination a cross feed conveyor, means driving the same in forward direction toward a baler or in reverse direction, a crank connected with said driving means, ratchet mechanism disposed between the driving means and crank operable to turn the crank in unison with-the driving means when the latter operates in reverse direction and being inoperable to turn the crank when the driving means operates in forward direction, a shears cutter disposed at the forward end of said conveyor and connection between said cutter and crank causing the shears cutter to reciprocate when said crank is turned, said outter being capable of cutting a str'eamof hay carried by the conveyor, whereby when said conveyor is operated in forward direction discharging hay into a baler the cutter'is inoperative and conveyor mechanism to operate only when said 10 conveyor mechanism is driving the conveyor in reverse direction.

3. TALIMAN. QIN'IBY L. TAILMAN. 

